Following on smartly from his success with `Churchill's Wizards: The British Genius for Deception 1914-1945' Nick Rankin has once again delivered a must-have/must-read book with his `Ian Fleming's Commandos: The Story of 30 Assault Unit in WWII' (Faber & Faber). I found the book totally engaging and very hard to put down.

The value of extensive researching has certainly paid off with a book which is a punchy, pacey, comprehensive account of a very specialist and elite group of men that were tasked to pinch German and Italian technologies as well as vital documentation.

Following the story from Dieppe to the end of hostilities, Rankin's passion for the subject as well as his engaging narrative, use of maps, quality images and descriptive nouns makes for a cracking read and we can readily see that Ian Fleming's concept to create an intelligence assault unit was certainly a war-winning idea.

It is also clear from the men that Fleming employed is where he found the many and varied inspirations for the character of James Bond'. Rankin also injects occasional, yet welcome humour and irony in to his script without detracting from the accomplishments and brave deeds of those who fought.

It is also worth mentioning that once again a Rankin book has an eye-catching jacket; the designer of the covers should be congratulated. In short, I thoroughly recommend this book without reservation as well as Nick Rankin's Faber & Faber stable mate, Tony Hugill's recently re-released and superb book `The Hazard Mesh' (originally published in 1946 and restricted to 500 copies) to anyone with an interest in World War Two and in particular 30 Assault Unit.
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Nick Rankin has delivered a must-read! "Ian Flemings Commandos: The Story of 30 Assault Unit in WW2" is a fantastically concise yet comprehensive account of the team of British elite soldiers and Naval officers who were picked for some of the most risky yet important wartime missions.

The book is a sprawling saga covering the run up to war, the contexts in which the need for German intelligence arrived and the formation of a specialist team who were overseen by Ian Fleming, later the author of James Bond who next year celebrates 50 years of cinematic exploits.

This is not to say that the exploits that this book goes on to detail are focussed around Bond's creator, whose story has been expounded upon elsewhere and because "although Fleming originated the idea of what he first called an `advanced intelligence unit', then an `intelligence assault unit', he himself was forbidden to go in with them on their first mission because his wartime job in Naval Intelligence made in privy to many secrets... that could never be allowed to fall into enemy hands" .

The book goes on to provide an even more enthralling story of the men themselves who throughout the war were sent in to the front lines to "pinch" enemy intelligence.
"Ian Fleming's Commandos..." is a hugely engrossing page turner that mixes historical fact, with humour (a recruit in training's confused midnight peeing in the wardrobe of guest house) and pathos that comes from the toll of war (30 AU members on the Dieppe raid witness their comrades shot down before their eyes.)

This is an impressive book that puts into perspective the vital intelligence and everything that went into acquiring it during the war. Recommended.
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